Van Eyck Completes the Ghent Altarpiece
May 6, 1432
Jan Van Eyck unveiled the twelve-panel oil masterpiece in Saint Bavo's Cathedral: the Adoration of the Mystic Lamb, painted with a new medium that held light the way crystal holds water. Northern European painting suddenly rendered velvet, skin, and reflected brass more convincingly than anything ever made. The altarpiece has since been stolen, dismembered, hidden from Napoleon, recovered from a salt mine, and pursued by thieves more than any other painting.
In context
Also in 1432 (1 other event on record)
- Azores Officially Colonized by Portugal · Europe · Exploration
Before and after in Europe
Before and after in Culture
Era
Late Middle Ages (1301–1500), one of 874 events from that era on Saeculum.
Sources